Causes of diarrhea in a calf and how to cure it quickly and effectively at home

Infectious or non-infectious diarrhea in calves is a common problem that requires immediate attention. Due to diarrhea, the calf becomes dehydrated, the body is exhausted, the mucous membranes of the digestive tract become inflamed, which, if left untreated, leads to death. Treatment must begin immediately after diagnosis by a veterinarian; animals can be treated with medications and folk remedies.

What is diarrhea?

Diarrhea is a disorder of defecation, accompanied by increased excretion and dilution of stool, increased body temperature, intoxication, and decreased appetite. Normal feces from a calf fed its mother's milk:

• mushy;
• homogeneous;
• yellow or brownish;
• intensely smelling.

A healthy dairy calf defecates after each suckling and a couple of times between feedings. Young animals that have switched to adult food should have normal feces:

• brown or brownish-green;
• dense;
• intensely smelling of silage.

Healthy young animals defecate 6-10 times a day. More frequent bowel movements indicate pathology. Diarrhea in calves occurs in 3 forms:

• light – the feces are liquefied, but not watery, the animal does not lose its appetite;
• medium – the feces are liquid, come out often, the calf loses its appetite, but dehydration is not severe;
• severe - the feces are watery, the animal is lethargic, has difficulty getting up, staggers, the body is dehydrated.

Causes of diarrhea in calves

The causes of diarrhea in calves can be infectious or non-infectious.

Non-infectious provocateurs of pathology:

• low-quality combined feeds;
• failure to comply with hygiene rules;
• helminthiasis;
• poisoning with low-quality food;
• sudden change in diet;
• binge eating;
• weakening of the immune system;
• hypovitaminosis;
• stress.

It is enough to work in the barn with dirty tools, put food in an unwashed feeder, so that the calf becomes diarrheic. Less commonly, diarrhea in young animals occurs after vaccination against a background of weakened immunity.

Infectious causes of diarrhea in calves:

1. Anaerobic enterotoxemia is a bacterial infection that causes severe intoxication and affects the nervous system. It is transmitted by contact and through food.
2. Salmonellosis is a bacterial pathology that occurs due to unsanitary conditions and crowded housing of animals. Transmission of the pathogen occurs through the digestive tract.
3. Colibacillosis affects newborn babies with weakened immune systems. Infection is provoked by unsanitary conditions, chronic pathologies in the mother cow, hypovitaminosis, and liver failure.
4. Rhinotracheitis is a viral pathology of cattle, leading to mass mortality of young animals. The herpes virus is transmitted by contact, through food, and less commonly by airborne droplets and placental routes.
5. Adenovirus primarily affects young animals up to a month of age. The virus travels by airborne droplets, through food and dirty bedding, and invades the respiratory, digestive, lymphatic systems, and organs of vision.
6. Rotavirus is carried by sick animals. Intrauterine infection of the fetus is possible.

Associated symptoms

The symptoms that accompany diarrhea depend on the cause of the pathological condition. Common symptoms that occur with diarrhea of ​​any origin:

• rapid weight loss, exhaustion;
• lethargic, drowsy, apathetic state;
• weak or absent appetite;
• drying of the nasal passages and upper lip area;
• dry skin;
• blanching of the mucous membranes;
• increase in temperature, fever.

A calf that often squirms develops poorly and lags behind its peers in height and weight. The body does not receive enough nutrients, vitamins, and minerals contained in the feed, since they are excreted in liquefied feces.Loose stools lead to dehydration, disruption of metabolic processes, and intoxication. Bloody diarrhea signals an inflammatory process in the digestive tract. If thin blood streaks or lumps are noticeable in the stool, then a foreign body has entered the intestines, injuring the mucous walls.

White diarrhea is a sign of helminthiasis or hypovitaminosis. If a newborn calf defecates yellow liquid feces, then the problem is poor-quality food or a disrupted feeding schedule. The color and structure of feces are not the same in infectious pathologies:

1. Anaerobic enterotoxemia - diarrhea is dark brown, bubbling, with bloody impurities. The animal has a fever, incoordination, muscle spasms, and rapid breathing.
2. Salmonellosis - a liquid mass spontaneously flows from the anus.
3. Colibacillosis is yellow-gray, watery, foul-smelling diarrhea, with flaky, mucous, and bloody inclusions. There is colic, the abdomen is hard and painful, and the eyeballs are sunken.
4. Rhinotracheitis is accompanied, in addition to diarrhea, by high fever, rapid breathing, coughing, and the release of foamy saliva from the mouth and clear mucus from the nose. Gradually, the nasal mucus becomes purulent, pneumonia occurs, and the animal’s body becomes covered with ulcers.
5. Adenovirus - brown-gray diarrhea with mucous, less often bloody inclusions. A one-month-old calf has profuse discharge from the nose and eyes, a dry cough, difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat, and excessive gas production. After 3-5 days, nasal discharge becomes purulent.
6. Rotavirus - feces are watery, gray-yellow, smelling sour, and later streaks of blood appear.Despite being dehydrated, the calf refuses to drink. The heartbeat quickens, thick saliva flows from the mouth.

Diagnosis of the disease

The diagnosis is made by a veterinarian, analyzing the conditions of livestock, the quality of feed, and symptoms. Takes biomaterial for bacteriological analysis.

The veterinarian asks the farmer:

• does the animal’s body temperature change;
• what the calf ate;
• how long does diarrhea last?
• is there vomiting?
• how often the animal defecates.

During the diagnosis, the veterinarian takes into account the color and consistency of feces, the density and tenderness of the calf’s abdomen, dryness of the outer integument, and heart rate.

Treatment at home

The sick animal is kept warm and dry, with good air circulation. The premises and equipment are regularly cleaned and disinfected. Overfeeding a sick calf is prohibited. Milk, feed and salt are excluded from the diet until the digestive tract is restored. The pet is treated in accordance with the diagnosis.

Medication

Medicines are used for severe diarrhea caused by infection or intoxication. You can give medications only after consultation with a veterinarian, so as not to harm the animal’s body.

Rehydrates

These are oral medications used to restore water-salt balance in the body. The most popular remedy is called “Rehydrate”. The medicine should be made as follows: dissolve 3 packages in 10 liters of water heated to 70 °C and stir. Treatment lasts a week. In the first 2 days, the calf is fed 6 times, the solution is added to 250 ml of cow's milk or a substitute when feeding milk replacer. You can store the medicine for 3 days in a cool place.

Sorbents

These are body cleansers of toxins.The calf can be treated with Bifidumbacterin intended for humans, which quickly restores the intestinal microflora. The powder is dissolved in warm water - 1 serving per teaspoon of water. The daily norm is 12-15 servings, divided into 2 or 3 doses 30 minutes before feeding. Treatment lasts 1.5 weeks.

Enzymes

Should be given if the calf's diarrhea is due to enzyme deficiency. An effective remedy is Gastrovet powder: 10 g dissolved in 10 liters of water heated to 50 °C. To stop diarrhea, add the solution to cow's milk, leave it for some time to ferment, and give it to the calf to drink. The daily dose, 90-110 ml, is divided into 3 doses.

Probiotics

These are restorers of intestinal microflora. Pharmacy “Bifidumbacterin”, veterinary “Lactobifadol” and “Olin” are suitable. The dosage of “Lactobifadol” is 0.2 g per 1 kg of body weight, the medicine is dissolved in water at 30 °C, given 2 times a day with food, treatment is continued for at least a week. Probiotics are diluted just before use, since the lifespan of beneficial bacteria in the external environment is short. Monosporin is used to treat dairy calves under one month old. It is added to food in 50 g doses.

Antibiotics with electrolytes

Antibiotics are used for a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea. There is no cure for viral diseases; for prevention, calves are given vaccine injections. Antibiotics that are effective include Tetracycline, Levomycetin, and Biomycin. Dose – 15-20 mg per 1 kg of body weight. Electrolyte – salt solutions that help with dehydration. They are easily prepared at home, the basis of the composition is potassium, sodium, chlorine, glucose (but not sugar - the calf body does not absorb it).

Folk remedies

Traditional recipes are useless for infection; they treat mild diarrhea associated with improper feeding and moldy food. If 2-3 days of treatment are unsuccessful, then you need to immediately switch to medications.

Decoctions

To cure mild diarrhea in a calf, the following recipes are effective:

1. Pour 150 g of barley or rye grain into 1 liter of water and cook for 30 minutes. Give the expressed decoction to the sick calf for 2 days. Divide the daily portion of 0.5 liters into 5 doses.
2. Pour 50 g of flaxseed into 1 liter of water and cook for an hour. Add 2 liters of boiled water to the strained broth. Give 2 times a day, 0.5 liters.

Tinctures

The following recipes help with diarrhea:

1. Pour 100 g of rose hips into 1 liter of boiling water. Leave for 8 hours. Give the calf 200 ml water 3 times a day.
2. Dissolve 9 g of salt in 1 liter of boiling water. Add 200 g of finely chopped onions (the variety with red skins), shake. Pour in 100 ml of sunflower oil. Leave for 2 days. Give the medicine 5 times during the day, dosage – 5 ml per 1 kg of weight.

Tea solutions

Add a large spoonful of salt and 3 raw egg whites to the tea leaves (black, unflavored). Dose – 10 ml of solution per 1 kg of weight. Treatment lasts a month.

When using folk remedies for diarrhea, the calf should not be fed milk.

What are the consequences of diarrhea?

The lack of treatment measures in most cases leads to death due to many complications. Viral pathologies in calves are complicated by meningitis, encephalitis, and obstruction of the respiratory tract. Rhinotracheitis is accompanied by convulsive conditions turning into paralysis. Colibacillosis affects lung and joint tissues. Enterotoxemia is complicated by hemorrhages, inflammation of the intestines with the formation of necrotic foci.

In surviving calves, the body remains weak, the appetite is poor, and the animals do not grow to normal weight. Cows that have suffered diarrhea at a young age have low milk yield.

How to prevent diarrhea in calves

The main preventive measures are maintaining cleanliness in the barn, using high-quality feed, strengthening the immunity of calves by feeding colostrum. To prevent diseases that lead to diarrhea, farmers:

• comply with sanitary recommendations for keeping cattle;
• regularly vaccinate livestock;
• use feed additives that prevent mold;
• give calves vitamin complexes and supplements to improve digestion and strengthen the immune system;
• immunize pregnant cows a month before giving birth;
• new animals are kept in quarantine.

Prevention of diarrhea in calves is easier than treatment; it is enough to create good conditions. If diarrhea has already begun, then all methods approved by the veterinarian should be used to save the animals from death.